Recently I had been to the Tata Motors showroom in Bangalore to have a look at the last launch of the year, the Sumo Grande Mark II. The golden coloured top-end model was present .

Exteriors

The Sumo Mark II is equipped with R16 rim sized tyres with Alloy wheels, with rating of 235/70 R16. Rear view mirrors are provided with indicators giving a stylish look. The chrome inserted side rub rails ensure the safety of passengers during possible impact.

As we move on to the rear side, we could see that it gives impression of a stylish SUV with nicely fitted tail lamps and indicator lamp on the bumper.

The Logo is inserted in between the three chrome plated grills which gives a traditional look. Clear lamps, fog lamp and fine finishing body with excellent paint work give an excellent impression.

Grande is available in seven colours, Platinum beige, Walnut gold, Castle Grey, Arctic Silver, Arctic white, Quartz black, and Mineral Red.

Interiors

We checked the vehicle in detail and the most impressive thing are the interiors with two tone barley beige and ebony black colour, and full fabric seats with back pockets with a velvet feel.

Once we sat on the seat we could feel the fine finishing of seats - not too soft, not too hard and just right. The central console with wood finishing looks quite nice. One more thing to notice is that the finishing and paint of dashboard matches the upholstery.We had to appreciate the improvement from the traditional Sumo.

The driver seat in the top end GX is equipped with additional height adjustment, and lumbar support. Armrest is also available for the driver and co-driver seats. In the second row, space has made for seating of three passengers and one seat is foldable which gives access to three passengers for the rear seat. A foldable armrest is provided at the middle row and it can be used for extra comfort in absence of third passenger for second row.

The reclining rear seat helps for them to rest comfortably. Provision has been made for comfortable seating of three passengers, with good leg room. The rear window can be slid open for ventilation.

With this we tend to think, that the Sumo Grande Mark II is good for 8 passengers to travel comfortably but with not much luggage space. The Sumo Grande Mark II rear seat can however be replaced with twin seats and luggage space in between. Twin seats can allow for seating of four passengers, though not as comfortably as middle row passengers. If the middle row seats are folded, the luggage space increases drastically.

After checking the seating, we examined the accessories in interiors which add to further comfort. The dual integrated roof AC is present in GX and EX versions, and it gives a sense of comfort for the middle row passengers and the rear row seat passengers also can expect better cooling effect than the traditional front AC.

The power steering gives a feeling of easier driving of the SUV. An Alpine CD MP3 player is provided with i-pod port, 6 speakers. The GX model is also equipped with keyless entry, adjustable light intensity on instrument panel and many more features like electrical rear glass demister, etc. are present in GX model.

Safety

The Mark II has been outfitted with good safety features. The top model is provided with Collapsible steering column, ECU controlled engine immobilizer, motorized head lamp adjustment, low fuel indicator warning etc. Things which are absent are the ABS and Airbag.

Engine and Specifications

The most important thing in a vehicle is the engine. The brief specification of Grande Mark II include 2179 CC Dicor engine, delivering power output of 120PS@4000 RPM. Torque output is 250 NM. The gearbox is 5 speed synchromesh, with overdrive. Front Suspension is independent wishbone with coil springs, and the rear suspension is with parabolic leaf spring .Ground clearance is 180 MM and fuel tank capacity is 65 liters

The Sumo Mark II comes with a warranty coverage of 2 years or 75000 KM and this can be extended upto 4 years/150000KM with purchase of extended warranty.

Sumo Grande can give mileage of around 10KMPL on average in city and can go upto 12KMPL in highway.

Price

After having a overview of the SUV.We checked the Price tag and was quite surprised to see the very competitive pricing at 7.60 Lac for LX model ,8.07 for EX model and 8.86 lac for top end version GX model.

Conclusion

The Tata Sumo Grande offers a lot of features for comfort, style and safety. With the available details, we can conclude that it is time to give extra attention to the Sumo Grande which was quite lagging after the launch of Mahindra Xylo. The pricing is just perfect for what it offers. If you trust brand Tata and are looking for a great SUV second to Safari, then Sumo Grande Mark II is the one to look out for.

by Shiva Shankar